To partition, or not to partition, that is the question...

[Cook1]

Ok, so getting a new 300GB HD cause well I have too many games that I play.

So here's the deal, I was thinking of doing this type of partitioning....
20GB- OS/Drivers/Etc
40GB- Benchmarking/Photoshop/apps
40GB- Music
200GB- Games

Now, the only reasoning I can see against partition is that I would limit myself space wise. Meaning I may only need 5GB for the OS/Drivers/Etc but then need another 10GB for my Apps like Adobe Premier Elements and Photoshop/Etc.

What are everyone's thoughts?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Most people seem to believe that a single, large partition is the best. Me, I do some partitioning for organizational purposes. Everything was planned out according to usage and future expansion, etc. Here's my setup. I've never really seen the point to seperating the OS and the apps though, because if you OS partition dies, then you have to reinstall all of your programs anyway. But I'm all about keeping data files away from program files.

 

[ProviaFan]

Such fine-grained partitioning is sometimes done on UNIX/Linux systems for various reasons, but doing so on Windows is a pain for various reasons, including the one that you mentioned. I tend to use a single OS/apps/games/etc. partition and a large data partition, which is good for organizational purposes and ease during OS reinstalls (these days I typically implement that using two separate drives instead of two partitions). In the end, there is no performance benefit (actually, performance may be worse due to having data spread out further across the disk), so the only reason to use such a partitioning scheme would be if you want it despite the hassle.

 

[Cook1]

Yeah, it would be more for organizational purposes then anything else. And I'm a paying member of napster so I don't really lose any of my music.

Can anyone confirm that there would be a performance decrease because data is spread out further across the disk? (this does make sense to me in my mind, but what makes sense to me and what is actually right rarely are the same thing)

 

[dunkster]

I use a multi-partition structure, some of which are simply for my own filing preferences.

I seriously doubt you would notice any performance degradation due to multi-partitions.

The only partitions I consider critical are the Windows and Data partitions. I value the convenience of restoring a Windows image in 15 minutes and I don't want to risk losing data due to Windows problems.

Regarding the Windows partition, I keep mine lean with only windows and security apps, since I image it weekly to DVD media. Partition size is 8Gb (chosen simply because it's twice the bare minimum required), actual used portion about 4Gb.

All data files go to the Data partition, and the entire partition contents are burned periodically to DVD media. All apps (Word, Excel, etc.) are configured to save to files to the Data partition. MP3s, driver-backups and some program backups are also stored here.

I keep Apps and Games in their respective separate partitions, simply my own filing/organization preference. Since restoring Windows also restores the registry, none have to be resident in the Windows partition. Any loading delay due to disperal on the drive is trivial and probably not noticeable in practice.

Hope this helps!

 

[Navid]

Why would you even consider installing Windows on a single 300GB partition?

Do you never re-install fresh?
I cannot imagine how much trouble you may have when time comes to backup 200GB of data because you need to re-install fresh.

 

[MobiusPizza]

Setting up a partition for the operating system is ALWAYS a good idea because how badly Windows is designed.
Moving My Documents folder to D partition and keep C for Windows allow reinstalling windows without backing up any data when Windows is badly damaged and need reinstalling.

 

[Ichigo]

40GB for Music and 200GB for Games?

Anyone else "WTF"ing here? Mines the exact opposite.

 

[velis]

Like other guys said, it's strictly organizational issue.

I usually partition my disk to system / work / everything else.
System gets some 16GB, OS and apps are stored there.
Work gets some 40 GB (I am very productive ) - documents, sources, etc goes here
The last partition gets the remainder of the drive to have games, music, movies, etc.

This way It's easy for me to backup my work files. I never image my system partition since I believe any OS needs a fresh install every now and then and quite frankly it hasn't been since Win95 that I was forced to reinstall. I just do it when I feel it would be nice.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I remember back when FAT16 was the norm, partitioning the hd was required, because so much space was wasted. Having a 2gb partition on a 5-20gb hd was optimal. Now, with NTFS, it isn't a concern.

 

[Cook1]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
40GB for Music and 200GB for Games?

Anyone else "WTF"ing here? Mines the exact opposite.

Obviously you don't have a lot of games. Right now I'm using 120GB for games.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: Cook1
Ok, so getting a new 300GB HD cause well I have too many games that I play.

So here's the deal, I was thinking of doing this type of partitioning....
20GB- OS/Drivers/Etc
40GB- Benchmarking/Photoshop/apps
40GB- Music
200GB- Games

Now, the only reasoning I can see against partition is that I would limit myself space wise. Meaning I may only need 5GB for the OS/Drivers/Etc but then need another 10GB for my Apps like Adobe Premier Elements and Photoshop/Etc.

What are everyone's thoughts?

Making a seperate partition for music would make sense, so that it's still there if you have to re-intsall windows. But making seperate partitions for games and applications doesn't really make too much sense, because if you have to re-install windows, the programs would still be there, but wouldn't work and you'll have to re-install them anyway. I make a big partition for OS/applications, and another partition for things like music, downloads, videos, etc, basicly anything I want available in case of a re-install, but no installed programs since they wouldn't work after a re-install anyway.

 

[P0ldy]

Why would anyone use partitions for organisation? That's what directories are for.

If you partition X amount for Y, when you have more Y than X has space you have problems. So you either create another partition, X2, which destroys your reason for organisation, or you delete files to free up space. Neither is ideal.

I say, two partitions: an OS/apps partition and one for everything else.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: P0ldy
Why would anyone use partitions for organisation? That's what directories are for.

Because, when you re-install Windows fresh, it overrides all your directories. If you have another partition for the files, on the other hand, they will not be touched when you re-install.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: stevty2889

But making seperate partitions for games and applications doesn't really make too much sense, because if you have to re-install windows, the programs would still be there, but wouldn't work and you'll have to re-install them anyway.

That is not necessarily true. All you need to do is to create an image (using Ghost, or Acronis or Drive Image or .....) of your windows partition after you have installed all your favorite programs. Then if you ever need to restore the Windows partition, all those programs that were there when you created the image will still work.

Also, there are many programs that do not need to be re-installed even if you do not re-image after you install them first. All you need to do is to place a shortcut in your "Start" menu to the executable after you restore image or install Windows fresh. Not every program installer places dll files in the system32 folder.

 

[Oyeve]

I just use 6 hard drives on my system, 1 drive for os and major apps, 1 drive for music, 2 drives for games, 1 drive for movies and video files and 1 drive for every single app/driver/software that all my PCs use, its a single depository so if I have to reinstall anything on any of my pcs its on that one drive. I back up to 200/400gb SDLT tapes.

 

[P0ldy]

Originally posted by: Navid
Because, when you re-install Windows fresh, it overrides all your directories. If you have another partition for the files, on the other hand, they will not be touched when you re-install.

That's why I said one OS/apps partition and then one for everything else, meaning music, games, documents... the data you want to keep, yes?... heh.

 

[her34]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: P0ldy
Why would anyone use partitions for organisation? That's what directories are for.

Because, when you re-install Windows fresh, it overrides all your directories. If you have another partition for the files, on the other hand, they will not be touched when you re-install.

it overrides all directories? or just "windows" and "program files"?

 

[cKGunslinger]

My computer is partitioned as such:

C: OS
D: Apps
E: Projects
F: Data
G: Games

I've actually had that scheme for 6+ years now; through 4 different PCs, 3 HDs, and countless OS reinstalls. You may be surprised how many games and programs do *not* need to be installed to work correctly, along with how many can simply be reinstalled to recreate their registry settings and continue to retain all the previous preferences. Simply format the C: drive and do some minor touch-ups to D: and G: and you have a fresh, new system that has all your old seetings, apps, saved games, etc.

And if you pick your patitions sizes wisely, you'll rarely have to resize them - but if you should have to, there are utilities to do such.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: her34

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: P0ldy
Why would anyone use partitions for organisation? That's what directories are for.

Because, when you re-install Windows fresh, it overrides all your directories. If you have another partition for the files, on the other hand, they will not be touched when you re-install.

it overrides all directories? or just "windows" and "program files"?

I was referring to re-installing the OS fresh. This requires you to reformat the partition first. In that case, everything on the partition will be gone!